RIVAL paper accepted for publication

Posted on October 7, 2022 by Bruce Ryan

The final paper from the RIVAL project has been accepted for publication. In this paper, Hazel Hall, Rachel Salzano, Katherine Stephen and I examine whether strategies shown to work well in one model of network development for Library and Information Science (LIS) practitioners and researchers can be applied successfully in the development of a new network. The first model was centred the DREaM network, while the second was RIVAL.

We show that the model was indeed transferrable, and that it can be successfully adapted for online delivery of network events and activities. (I’m sure you remember all those moves to online as lockdown kicked in!) We believe that the strategies we tested can be used by yet further networking programmes, especially those aiming to bring together researchers and practitioners.

The paper can be downloaded from Edinburgh Napier University’s repository, via the outputs on my Napier web-page, or via the link on my publications and outputs page in this blog. There’s a personal/chatty description of the network model in my post about presenting at CILIPS conference 2021.

Time to be honest: while I did most of the grunt work in organising the RIVAL events, gathering the data reported in this paper and then analysing it (oh the joys of UCInet!), Hazel was the leader who made RIVAL happen and wrote the paper.

What has Bruce been up to in the first half of 2021?

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Bruce Ryan

I write these pieces every 6 months, usually for the Centre for Social Informatics’ all-centre meetings. (I’m usually incapable of speech by the time it’s my turn to report.[1]) I’m still really miffed that we still can’t get together in person. Click this link to see all the pieces in this series. There is a history of my academic work so far on my personal blog. Continue reading →

What has Bruce been up to in the second half of 2020?

Posted on December 16, 2020 by Bruce Ryan

I write these pieces every 6 months, usually for the Centre for Social Informatics’ all-centre meetings. (I’m usually incapable of speech by the time it’s my turn to report.[1]) Really miffed that we can’t get together in person this time. Click this link to see all the pieces in this series. Continue reading →

Meet the RIVAL network: members, skills, and locations all mapped

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Bruce Ryan

(shamelessly copied from Hazel Hall’s blog-post)

Professor Hazel Hall and I have recently added new content about network members to the Research Impact Value and LIS (RIVAL) project web site . This includes:

A directory of all the network members: this includes names; photographs; job titles; contact details; and skills and interests for all people listed.
A directory of network members’ skills and interests: these have been classified according to the CILIP Professional Skills and Knowledge Base.
The RIVAL network map: this interactive map allows users to locate the RIVAL network members across Scotland.

This adds to existing content on RIVAL people:

If you are looking for library and information science professionals in Scotland interested in research impact and value, this is the place to start.

What has Bruce been up to in the last 6 months?

Posted on December 18, 2019 by Bruce Ryan

Academic/Napier

The RIVAL network: I’m PA to the ∏, administrator, map-creator, videographer, data-analyst and much more
IL measures paper: Peter and I are contributing a section to a paper by Gunilla Widen. This will report on the survey of community councillors, and how (not to) measure workplace information literacy.
marking: some marking of students’ placement reports.
information avoidance in diabetes: because I don’t want to know about my diabetes, but because I do want to know why this is. And I want to to help others with this bad combination, and to maybe generate some theory!
SFC GCRF map. This is to create a web map of SFC-funded GCRF projects. Draft version is here: http://bruceryandontexist.net/SFC/VA42-2019_11_19/. <insert moan about administrivia>
Failure: REDACTED

Non-academic

Still minutes secretary and web-weaver for 3 Edinburgh community councils
- But I’ve worked out how to cut down on the hours while still doing what they want.
£eithChooses PB event: publishing, IT, web, admin…
Community Councils Together on Trams: minutes and asking important impertinent questions
Failure: I didn’t cease smoking. Instead Varenicline made me vomit.

RIVAL event 1: Thursday 11 June #lisrival

Posted on July 18, 2019 by Bruce Ryan

We had a lot of fun at RIVAL event 1! This event, and three following events in November 2019, March 2020 and July 2020, aim to seed a collaborative network of Scotland-based Library and Information Science (LIS) researchers and practising library and information professionals interested in maximising the impact and value of library and information science research.

For anyone who couldn’t make it, the movies and photos hopefully give some of the flavour of the day. Continue reading →

Published – almost!

Posted on March 14, 2019 by Bruce Ryan

It’s very pleasing to say that the latest paper by Hazel Hall, Peter Cruickshank and me has been accepted for publication. A PDF of Closing the researcher-practitioner gap: an exploration of the impact of an AHRC networking grant will become available on the university repository page in the not-too-distant future. (I think it’s embargoed until the relevant issue of Journal of Documentation is published.)

This paper complements our earlier paper researching the network of Library and Information Science researchers and practitioners sparked by the AHRC-funded Designing Research Excellence and Methods (DREaM) project.

The networking effects we found are part of the inspiration for our current RIVAL project.

Continue reading →

Research Impact and Value in LIS: introducing the RIVAL network

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Bruce Ryan

Copied from Hazel Hall’s blog

This afternoon I’m speaking at the Edge conference in Edinburgh about a new project, as summarised in the slide below.

We started work on Research Impact and Value and LIS (RIVAL) on 1st February 2019. The Royal Society of Edinburgh has awarded us a grant to create a collaborative network of Scotland-based library and information science (LIS) researchers and library and information professionals interested in maximising the value of LIS research. This work builds on the pilot RIVAL event that we hosted at Edinburgh Napier University on 11th July last year.

We’re using the funding to organise four one-day network events between July 2019 and July 2020. A proportion of this will be used to cover expenses of network members to participate at the events: travel for all members as required; travel and accommodation for those travelling long distances, e.g. from the Highlands and Islands. An extensive online presence for RIVAL will allow others to benefit from the project.

The main goal of the project is to develop and strengthen relationships between LIS researchers within Scottish universities, and between these LIS researchers and practitioners in Scotland. We hope that in doing so the practitioner participants will increase their confidence and self-efficacy as research users and partners.

The project team members Hazel Hall and Bruce Ryan are based within the Centre for Social Informatics at Edinburgh Napier University, and supported by a Project Board that includes Ines Byrne of the National Library of Scotland, Martina McChrystal of the University of Glasgow, Paul McCloskey of the City of Edinburgh Council, Emily Prince of Westerhailes Education Centre, and Andy Taylor of the University of Edinburgh.

The first RIVAL event takes place on Thursday 11th July 2019 in the Horizon Suite at Edinburgh Napier University’s Sighthill campus. Full details will be made available soon. In the meantime, if you wish to register your interest in the event, please email Bruce Ryan at b.ryan@napier.ac.uk.

To find out more about RIVAL, please check the project web site, follow the @LisRival Twitter feed, and/or join us on Facebook.

Bruce's IT-ish world

an adjunct to my Edinburgh Napier University web-presence

Category Archives: RIVAL